Park Yong-jin: "Is Yoon Ho-jung's Perception of 'Satellite Parties' Appropriate... Small Gains Leading to Big Losses Causing the Ruling Party's Defeat"

"Democrats Disappoint People by Being Led by Situational Logic"
"Must Keep Promise of National Unity Government and Political Reform"
"Need to Reflect on Why Moon's Approval Rating Was Not Fully Absorbed"

Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering a policy speech at the joint Seoul rally held on the afternoon of October 10 last year at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, for the selection of candidates for the 20th presidential election. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] Park Yong-jin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, "The things we have neglected in pursuit of small gains have caused the public to turn their backs on the Democratic Party, leading to the defeat in the presidential election."

On the morning of the 16th, at a forum held at the National Assembly titled "Challenges Left by the 20th Presidential Election in Korean Politics," Park analyzed, "I felt that if the ruling party becomes arrogant and complacent, public sentiment can leave at any time."

Regarding the creation of the 'satellite party' during the 21st general election, Park questioned, "Is it appropriate to accept the perception of Emergency Committee Chairman Yoon Ho-jung that the formation of the satellite party was an 'inevitable choice'?" He pointed out, "Our justification of double standards led to today's defeat."

He criticized, "The Democratic Party created a satellite party that undermined the mixed-member proportional representation electoral reform and also defended the power-related sexual misconduct of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon," adding, "When principles and promises should have been kept, we disappointed the public by being swayed by situational logic."

Park said, "I believe the promises of a national unity government and political reform, which the Democratic Party and candidate Lee Jae-myung spoke about in the final stages of the election, must be kept," and added, "The Democratic Party must no longer be a party that makes empty promises. If you say you will do something, you must really do it."

He also emphasized, "We must not ignore former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's responsibility or overlook the Democratic Party's problems just because the defeat was a narrow 0.73 percentage point difference," stressing, "This presidential election defeat is Lee Jae-myung's defeat and the Democratic Party's defeat."

He continued, "It is neither right nor just to place the responsibility for the presidential election defeat solely on President Moon Jae-in just because there was strong public opinion for regime change," and said, "While criticism and responsibility for President Moon's policy failures and personnel mistakes are unavoidable, it is also important to consider the unusual phenomenon where public opinion favored regime change but the president's approval rating remained high."

He stated, "We need to reflect on why we could not fully absorb President Moon's approval rating," and concluded, "It is a time for reflection and innovation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.